Transfer device



July 26, 1938.

W. F. KNEBUSCH ET AL TRANSFER DEVI CE Filed Aug.. 21, 1935 INVENTOR5WALTER F. KNEBUSCH a FOSTE?) F. HI LL|X m ATTORNEY Patented July 26,1938 TRANSFER DEVICE,

Walter F. Knebusch, Cleveland, and Foster F. Hillix, Lakewood, Ohio,assignors to Industrial Rayon Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, acorporation of Delaware Application August 21, 1935, Serial No. 37,252

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a transfer mechanism for removing a threadfrom a rotating surface on which it is being wound. More particularly,the invention relates to a transfer wheel adapted 5 to contact with arotating surface on which a wet thread is being wound to sever suchthread and to transfer the thread end so formed to another surface whichmay also be rotating. The invention provides, among other things, adisk- 10 like member having blades spaced around its periphery adaptedto sever a thread which is winding on a rotating cylindrical surface.The device is particularly useful in connection with reels which operateto advance a thread in helical 15 turns along its'length, the transferdevice acting to sever the thread and remove the free end so formed, sothat the thread can be transferred to another similar reel where thewinding operation is repeated.

10 The invention is especially useful in connection with the continuousspinning of artificial'silk, in

which all of the treatments necessary to finish.

an artificial silk thread coming from a spin bath are performed on thethread in succession on a number of reels arranged in regular order.Thus, in the viscose process of making artificial silk, the thread maybe washed, desulphurized, bleached, soaped, etc., each operation beingperformed while the thread is passing over a separate reel; The methodis continuous in'that the thread automatically winds in approximatelyhelical form along a given reel, runs fromthis reel onto the next reel,travels along the second reel in the same manner, and so on until the :3finished thread is taken up on a packaging device. Such a machine isdescribed in copending application Ser. No; 651,404, filed January 12,

1933, and the present mechanism may be used therewith or wherever it isdesired to transfer a traveling thread from one surface to anotherwithout interrupting the running of the thread. While the transfermechanism can be used in connection with various forms of reels forwinding thread, its operation will be described in association with theform of reel set forth in application Ser. No. 652,089, filed January16, 1933, wherein is disclosed a reel consisting of two cage membersmade up of laterally extending intermeshing bars, the cage members beingG mounted for rotation about axes'both offset and canted or askewwithrespect to each other. As the bars of the respective cage members movein and out due to this offset relation oftheir axes, the turns of threadare alternately picked up and 55 dropped byeach set of bars, the turnsbeing dropped'onto the bars slightly forward of the position which theylast occupied due to the canted relation of the axes. This results inaxial travel of the thread along the reel until it has come to the endthereof and is ready to be 'trans- "5 ferred to another similar reel.

Some automatic means to effect this transfer from reel to reel isdesirable in order thateach' thread endmay be caused to wind overtheseveral reels provided for the application of the solutions 7 requiredfor the various treatments to which the thread is subjected. Such atransfer can to advantage be employed when the machine is set first inoperation, which is done by applying the thread from a spin bath to'thefirst reel, causing it to wind over the first reel, transferring it tothe second reel, completing the travel on this reel, and againtransferring, until the finished thread is run off onto the finalpackaging device. Breakage of a thread during operation o'f the machinealso necessitates transfer. Manual transfer is possible but naturallyautomatic transfer is preferred, especially since the mini:- ber oftransfers is very large where a commercial quantityof thread is beingspun. Furthermore, removal of the thread from the reel is made difficultby the fact that the thread is wet by the various baths to which it issubjected and tends to clingto the bars of the reel. Also, the liquidis' showered onto the reels and tends to wash following turns of threadover the leading end. Where the true leading end is thus bound underfollowing turns, a transfer mechanism should be used which is capable ofcreating a new free leading end by severance of the thread back of thetrue end.

Another problem which arises in connection with such transfer devices isthe requirement that the severing edges which are presented to the reelmust necessarily bear thereagainst with 40 sufiicient rigidity to cutthe thread when contact is made therewith but at the same time thisrigidity must be neither so great that the transfer mechanisms willbecome worn out quickly and require replacement nor so great that agroove will be worn in the winding reel resulting in abrasion andbreaking of the still soft, wet thread during operation of the machine.For this reason, a mechanism is required which is moderately flexible,so that it yields somewhat upon contact with the reel but yet may beurged against the thread with suffi-cient firmness to sever such thread.

It is accordinglyan object of the invention to provide means of moderateflexibility for autolike article being wound on a rotating surface andremoving such leading end from the surface. Another object of theinvention is to provide an apparatus for automatically transferring ahelically winding thread from one rotating surface to another. A furtherobject of the invention is to provide a transfer mechanism havingflexible thread-severing elements for severing and transferring awinding thread. Other objects of the invention will in part be obviousand will in part appear more in detail herein after.

In the drawing, which illustrates severalof the various forms which theinvention may take, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, ofone embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a vertical section takenthrough Figure 1; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 of anotherembodiment, of the invention; Figure 4 is a corresponding sectionthrough Figure 3; Figure 5 is an elevation of still another embodiment;Figure 6 is a vertical section therethrough; and Figure '7 is afragmentary view in elevation of a transfermechanism constructed inaccordance with the invention mounted in operative relation to athread-processing reel.

, The invention is adapted for use in connection with any process ofmaking artificial filaments,

as,for example, artificial silk or rayon, such as the cuprammonium,cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate and viscose processes; but it isespecially valuable in connection with the viscoseprocess and will bemore particularly described in relation thereto, although no limitationis thereby implied. In fact, the apparatus will be found useful whereverit is necessary to transfer a thread from a rotating surface to anothersurface, particu larly if the'thread to be transferred is wet and tendsto cling to the surface from which it is to be removed. P

Referring to Figure '7 of the drawing, a spinning reel I consists ofacage member 2, carrying longitudinally extending bars 3,'and a cagemember 4, carrying intermeshing bar members 5, the two sets of barsmoving in and out radially with respect to each otherdue to the offsetbetween their respective axes of rotation. As the turns of thread reachthe endof the reel, they encounter the transfer mechanism -6 which ismounted to rotate in contact with the bars on a bracket '1. This bracketis mounted in the reel housing 8 by means of a rubber gasket 9' and maybe adjustable in relation to the reel. A belt ll drives the transfermechanism from a suitable source of power (not shown). The mechanism 6is rotated in the same angular directon as the reel Iin order that thesevering blades l2 may move in the opposite direction to the bars 3 and5 at the point of contact to effect detachment of the severed end fromthe reel. The thread end 'then'drops through the opening lit in the reelhousing 8 to contact with the surface of another reel-placed therebelowor otherwise disposed in proximity to reel I. r

In order to provide the necessary flexibility of the blades whileinsuring sufficient rigidity to sever the wet thread, the presentinvention affords a structure in which the blades are preferably formedintegrally with the body of' the disk by 6 cutting the latter andtwisting into the desired shapethe separate sections so made; A scrollformation has been found to be particularly advantageous in that itcauses the blades to contact with the reel bars firmly while alsopermitting against the bars. The modification of the invention shown inFigures 1 and 2 is of this type, consisting of a disk l4 mounted torotate with a spindle l5. The disk is positioned between shrouds l6 andI1 and carries blades |2a integral with the disk. These blades arescroll-shaped and are twisted so that the width thereof lies parallel tothe axis of rotation of the disk,.the blades, furthermore, curving from.their points of attachment to the body of the disk in a rearwarddirection with respect to the direction of rotation 7 of the transfermechanism, as they approach the periphery of the disk. As a result, thecutting edges l8 of the blades will tend to be pushed inwardly towardthe center of the disk as they press against the surfaces of the reelbars. This lessens the diameter of the transfer mechanism temporarily asit passes the contact point and thus reduces friction and wear on thetwo structures. However, the cutting edges 18 will beheld against thebars with sufficient firmness by the resiliency of the scroll-shapedblades so that effective severing of the thread occurs.

Similarly, the modification shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawingconsists of a disk l9 positioned between shrouds 2| and 22 and mountedfor rotation with a spindle 23. The blades l'2b are integral with thematerial of the disk l9 and are twisted so that the width of the bladeextends parallel to the axis ofthe disk. In this case, however, theblades extend radially outward without taking the scroll formation, thedesired yielding of the cutting edges 24 being provided by theflexibility of the material from which the disk is made. That is to say,the blades are of sufficient length so that they are forced backwardslightly when contacting with the reel bars, and, while severance of thethread is effected, there is no rigid, unyielding contact between theblades and the bars. r

The modification shown in Figures5 and 6 presents a scroll formationsomewhat similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2. In this instance, adisk 25 is positioned between shrouds 26 and 21 and is mounted forrotation with a spindle 28. The disk 25 has saw cuts 29 thereinfollowing a more or less spiral path from the periphery of the diskinwardly a short distance. These regularly spaced saw cuts dividetheouter portion of the disk into sections or blades 3| and the ends ofthese sections are upset or bent to form cutting edges 3?.circumferentially spaced around the disk and extending parallel to theaxis thereof. These blades or sections extend toward the periphery ofthe disk in the opposite direction to the rotation of the disk and willthus tend to yield inwardly as the disk contacts with the bars of thespinning reel. The action is substantially similar tolthat of themodification shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Any of the modifications described herein may be used with a continuousspinning machine of the type referred to above, one transfer wheel.

, being placed in contact with each spinning reel wherein it is desiredto transfer a wet thread from a rotating surface to another surface.

It is intended that the patent shall cover by suitable expression in theappended claims, Whatever features of patentable novelty reside in theinvention.

What we claim is:

1. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage,thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said devicecomprising a rotatable carrier having associ ated therewith a pluralityof elongated blades individually adapted to flex along substantiallytheir entire lengths in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation ofsaid carrier, the extremities of said blades being disposedequidistantly from the axis of rotation of said carrier for engaging thesurface of said thread-storage, thread-advancing device and removingtherefrom the thread to be transferred.

2. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage,thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said devicecomprising a plurality of scroll shaped blades arranged about arotatable carrier, the extremities of said blades being disposedequidistantly from the axis of rotation of said carrier for engaging thesurface of said thread-storage, threadadvancing device and removingtherefrom the thread to be transferred.

3. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage,thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said devicecomprising a disk having associated therewith a plurality of spirallyformed blades, the extremities of said blades being disposedequidistantly from the axis of said disk for engaging the surface ofsaid thread-storage, thread-advancing device and removing therefrom thethread to be transferred.

4. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage,thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said devicecomprising a disk having associated therewith a plurality of blades eachof which is twisted out of the plane of said disk throughout the greaterpart of its length, the extremities of said blades being disposedequidistantly from the axis of said disk for engaging the surface ofsaid threadstorage, thread-advancing device and removing therefrom thethread to be transferred.

5. In a thread processing apparatus including a rotatablethread-storage, thread-advancing device, means for transferring threadfrom said device comprising a disk having projecting therefrom aplurality of integrally connected blades the outer ends of which arebent to form an angle with the contiguous portions thereof, theextremities of said blades being disposed equidistantly from the axis ofsaid disk for engaging the surface of said thread-storage,thread-advancing device and removing therefrom the thread to betransferred.

6. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage,thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said devicecomprising a plurality of elongated blades arranged about a rotatablecarrier each of which elongated blades lies edgewise to a common planeperpendicular to the axis of said carrier, the extremities of saidblades being disposed equidistantly from the axis of rotation of saidcarrier for engaging the surface of said thread-storage,thread-advancing device and removing therefrom the thread to betransferred.

7. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage,thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said devicecomprising a serrated disk the serrations of which are disposedequidistantly from the axis of said disk for engaging the surface ofsaid threadstorage, thread-advancing device and removing therefrom thethread to be transferred.

8. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage,thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said de-Vice comprising a disk having projecting therefrom a plurality ofelongated blades formed integrally with said disk, the extremities ofsaid blades being disposed equidistantly from the axis of said disk forengaging the surface of said thread-storage, thread-advancing device andremoving therefrom the thread to be transferred.

WALTER F. KNEBUSCI-I. FOSTER F. HILLIX.

